(formerly magnetically aesthetic)

Local Craftsmanship in Siem Reap

It’s amazing how you can find opportunities to learn about the local culture for free; you can simply visit the restaurants shops and talk to the locals, take advantage of the free guided walking tours, or if you have the time, live in that city for a month or longer 🙂

Because I spend most of my days in the CCDO office or in the field, I haven’t taken advantage of all that Siem Reap has to offer, and I only have a few weeks left! My time here in this wonderful city is coming to an end soon, and I want to start doing more than dining at as many places as possible 😛 I came across Artisans Angkor, a company that provides vocational training to rural people in the form of craftsmanship and promotes fair trade and development in Cambodia. When I visited this place, I was able to see some of the craftspeople hard at work etching beautiful sculptures using wood and different stones!

Steps to carving a wooden sculptureCraftspeople hard at work carving stone!Paying close attention so they don’t miss any special detailsPolishing the stone in water to make it smooth and develop a shineSome examples of completed work